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It has been an interesting week with some continuing Mai Mai militia problems in the north, good news and bad news with our wildlife, and interesting developments on the tourism front.

Andre holds sick 4-year old orphan Ndakasi.

Gorillas and other animals

• Ndakasi, our four-year-old orphan mountain gorilla at the Senkwekwe Center became noticeably sick over the weekend. MGVP vets, Dr. Jan and Dr. Noel, came up quickly to check on her. After doing a thorough exam and collecting samples of blood and urine, they will run lab tests to see if they can find the problem. Caretaker Andre was able to do what he does best – act as mother and father, holding and cuddling the sick little girl. You can see more photos on our Facebook album HERE.
• It’s that time of year when the wildlife likes to come out of the forests and sample new food, namely cultivated crops, which is a serious issue for the local farmers. Approximately thirty buffalo came out of the forest near Rwanya in the southern sector causing serious damage to fields of crops. In another section of the park east of Tongo, about 20 elephant were reported to have damaged some cassava fields between 4-9 pm.
• As reported earlier in the week, we have a new baby mountain gorilla in the Humba family, bringing that family up to 16 members.

New baby mountain gorilla for the Humba family.

Security:

• The Mai Mai infiltration in the northern sector continues to be an issue with more attacks or threats of attack on villages surrounding the park. Ranger units were deployed in the Muramba area following some Mai Mai threats. We are closely monitoring the situation.

Rangers:

• The 50 new rangers who were trained for 7 months in Lulimbi, and on-the-job training the last month, have officially begun service for the park. They will be deployed mainly for the safety of tourists and for emergencies throughout the park. We are very pleased to have them join our excellent team of committed rangers.

Mount Mikeno as seen from the top of Nyiragongo Volcano.

Tourism:

• Cai Tjeenk Willink, our head of tourism, decided to try an ascent of our Mt Mikeno, something that has rarely been accomplished due to the lack of an established trail and difficult terrain. The idea is to open up another possible tourist attraction for trekkers on this mountain in the gorilla sector. Cai’s take on the three-day climb: “The trek was amazing! We made it to the summit. The place is absolutely magical and unlike anything I have ever seen.” He then added that it was ridiculously dangerous and probably only for experienced climbers. I’ll let him tell you the details in a blog post with photos.

We are happy to announce the birth of a new baby for the Humba gorilla family, born on the 7th of August. This is the first baby for 9 year-old mother Kanyalire, a female who migrated from the Kabirizi family to Humba family about one year ago.

Kanyalire’s history includes the death of her mother, Macibiri, murdered in the July 2007 massacre that tragically took the lives of seven critically endangered mountain gorillas, including silverback Senkwekwe of the Rugendo family.

With this new birth, the Humba family now has 16 members.

If you would like to support the on-going effort of our rangers to monitor and protect these critically endangered mountain gorillas of Virunga National Park, you can begin by joining the Guard a Gorilla program and choose a gorilla to guard through your monthly donations. Alternatively, you can join the Protect the Park program by donating $25 monthly for the patrols and anti-poaching units for a piece of the Mikeno Sector.  Protecting the mountain gorillas is costly both financially and for the lives of our rangers. We can’t do it without your help.

Gorillas are pretty amazing to watch, even when they’re doing next to nothing. We watch them eating leaves, stretching out on the grass for a snooze, or swinging from trees as if it’s a fascinating drama. Imagine a group of aliens watching us eat in rapturous fascination. So when something actually dramatic takes place, like…say…a broken fingernail, accompanied by a lot of screaming…it’s quite exciting.

And so we present the Humba gorilla family in a slightly more dramatic moment.

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A Rugendo baby born to Lubutu and Bukima bring the family members to six.

Virunga National Park rangers discovered two baby gorillas born into the Rugendo and Humba gorilla families. This is the first baby to survive for mother Lubutu and father Bukima in the Rugendo family, bringing the small group to six members. The new Humba baby makes 15 for the family.

Lubutu is the only female in the Rugendo family. Her last baby died after only two days. We have worked hard to protect all of our gorillas, and are especially happy to see a new baby in this family. We feel like celebrating. Read the full story »

Today is Matembela’s birthday. He has enjoyed nine years in the sunshine of his family’s love, and the clouds of adult life are not yet on his horizon.

A Mountain Gorilla’s infancy and adolescence are usually idyllic. Typically these animals grow up at the centre of a loving, close-knit and stable group in which the senior members devote their lives to caring and providing for their young. The cherished young spend their time cavorting in what amounts to a forest playground, in a beautiful landscape and under a gentle climate.

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We have noticed over recent months that there appears to be an innate solidarity between Gato and Magori – two adult females in the Humba family.

Magori

They both have 4 children, and while we estimate Gato (that means “small” in Kinyabwisha, a local language) was born in 1987, we are not sure about Magori. Gato is also the mother of our unruly Silverback Mukunda.

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Now the Humba family of Mountain Gorillas has started to leave the forests of Virunga to eat the crops of the villagers who live next to the park. As you can see this is an ongoing problem – and we desperately need to find a solution.

Humba and his clan are leaving the park to eat the corn planted by the local communities

The HUGOs are hard at work – encouraging and coaxing the animals back to their habitat. But it is not an easy task, and there is only so much noise the HUGOs can make. After a while the gorillas quite simply just ignore them.

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Last May Bonane lost a baby – her first born. It was a time of mourning for Humba , the giant Silverback, and his close-knit family. Today, instead of a sad story, we bring you just the opposite. News of another newborn in the Humba family , and Bonane is the mother.

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This is a video of the Humba family of mountain gorillas - one of the 6 habituated families in Congo’s Gorilla Sector. Humba now has 12 individuals in his family. You may recall he is the brother of Senkwekwe, the Silverback who was murdered in July 2007 (and after whom we named Ndeze and Ndakasi’s new forest home).

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There is a spot just below the northern cliff face of the magestic Mikeno volcano where animals go in search of salt. Elephants, buffalo, antelope and our mountain gorillas all go there to scrape, lick and eat the rock which is rich in salt and other minerals.

A couple of days ago the Humba group was there. Ranger Sekibibi took these pictures. You can see how acrobatic our gorillas can be! Read the full story »